Tracking ICE arrests in the metro Atlanta area, and local responses

On Tuesday, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continued making arrests around the country including in metro Atlanta, 285 South spoke to a teacher who works at a public school in the Buford Highway corridor. He said about a fourth of his students haven’t shown up this week.

“Parents don’t want to send their kids to school anymore because school is no longer a safe place,” he said, referring to a Trump administration directive that makes it possible for ICE agents to enter “sensitive” areas such as schools, churches, and hospitals—a practice limited under the previous administration. 

The vast majority of his students, who are between 10 and 12 years old, are from immigrant backgrounds or are immigrants themselves; his students are mostly from working-class Latino families, though some are Asian and African American. All have been affected by the arrests. “I asked them, ‘Raise your hand if you’ve seen ICE in your neighborhood.’ And maybe half the class raises their hand,” the teacher said. “‘Raise your hand if you have heard about ICE being in a friend or a neighbor’s apartment complex.’ Everybody raises their hand.” 

Another source, who works closely with communities on Buford Highway through a Latino nonprofit, also said that many students didn’t attend class on Monday, but more went to school on Tuesday. 

Local government responses

The City of Brookhaven released a statement criticizing the ICE arrests over the weekend, saying that “Brookhaven Police were not contacted for their assistance in these raids over the weekend” and that the raids “disrupt lives, separate families, and create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty that reverberates throughout our larger community.” 

Chamblee Mayor Bryan Mock said his city wasn’t contacted by ICE beforehand, either. “We did not know they were coming to Chamblee, and we were not asked to participate in any way,” he told WSB in an interview.

Community actions

On Saturday, February 1, at 2 p.m., advocates and community members are gathering for an event called “No deportaciones masivas: Georgia defiende a los inmigrantes”—No mass deportation, Georgia defends immigration—at the intersection of Buford Highway and Clairmont Road in Brookhaven. The protest is organized by Shut Down Folkston ICE Facility, ICE Breakers, the Rainbow Collective, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.  Check out more local events on our community calendar here. 

Misinformation and fear in social media 

Amid the targeted arrests, fear inspired by unconfirmed rumors of ICE raids has been spreading through some communities. For instance, on Tuesday afternoon, parents in a text message group thought that North Atlanta High School might be on lockdown after hearing that a student had texted her parents to say ICE was at the school. 

285 South arrived at the location and confirmed with two Atlanta police officers that the school was on lockdown because of a bomb threat—not an ICE raid. Local media outlets then reported that the school received a threat over email in the morning; the high school was placed on lockdown while law enforcement searched the campus. 

It’s not the first time social media has fueled alarm and confusion over potential ICE encounters. Last Friday, Chicago Public Schools had to clarify that agents who’d attempted to enter an elementary school in a largely Hispanic neighborhood were with the U.S. Secret Service, not ICE, as district officials initially said. (The Secret Service said it had been investigating a specific threat.) In Durham, North Carolina, local ABC News reported that a truck with a logo resembling ICE’s was seen in the parking lot of a grocery store and that someone driving it around was wearing a uniform. It turned out to be a hoax. 

The anxiety is real, said the teacher working in the Buford Highway corridor. “Maybe the fear is so present that they mistake certain cars for ICE agents. But that, to me, is also making me aware that there is a panic.” He’s been encouraging students to be prepared and not to panic, and if they do encounter an ICE agent, make sure they and their families are educated about their rights.